This application claims the benefit of Japanese Application No. 2002-115973 filed Apr. 18, 2002.
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic image display apparatus and ultrasonic image display method for producing an ultrasonic image based on an echo signal output by an ultrasonic probe and displaying the ultrasonic image on a monitor, and more particularly to an ultrasonic image apparatus and ultrasonic image display method that improve monitor display condition operating ease and enable easy display of an arbitrary site.
Conventionally, an ultrasonic image display apparatus for imaging the interior of a subject by applying ultrasound to a region to be examined in the subject with an abutting ultrasonic probe, and producing an image of an echo signal of reflected waves of the applied ultrasound is commonly used in non-destructive examination. Since ultrasound is harmless to a living body, the ultrasonic image display apparatus is especially useful for medical applications and is used for detection of foreign material in the living body, determination of lesion degree, observation of a tumor or a fetus, and the like.
In the conventional ultrasonic image display apparatus, in general, a display method of displaying a single ultrasonic image produced based on an echo signal and a display method of simultaneously displaying a plurality of ultrasonic images are switchably used. The method of displaying a single ultrasonic image is used for displaying the whole ultrasonic image produced from an echo signal on a monitor, and the method of simultaneously displaying a plurality of ultrasonic images is used for comparison between the ultrasonic images. When the plurality of ultrasonic images are displayed, the screen of the monitor must be allocated among a plurality of display areas, and accordingly the display area available for displaying each ultrasonic image becomes smaller. To display the ultrasonic images in sufficient resolution and size, part of each ultrasonic image produced from an echo signal must be selectively displayed. Therefore, the ultrasonic image display apparatus selectively displays necessary parts of ultrasonic images for comparison between the ultrasonic images by switching the display between the single ultrasonic image display and multiple ultrasonic image display.
Moreover, the ultrasonic image display apparatus usually has a function of measuring distance, area, volume, and the like in the ultrasonic image. In measuring distance in the ultrasonic image, a pointing device capable of specifying an arbitrary point on the monitor, such as a mouse, is employed and two arbitrary points are specified to calculate the distance therebetween; or an arbitrary curve is specified using the pointing device to calculate the length thereof. In measuring an area, an arbitrary region is specified using the pointing device to calculate the area of that region. In measuring volume, processing for calculating the volume from area and distance measurements is executed. When distance, area or volume is to be calculated as described above, the single display by which the whole ultrasonic image can be displayed is more suitable than the multiple display by which only part of the ultrasonic image is displayed, because the locations to be specified must be displayed on the monitor.
Furthermore, when an echo signal received by the ultrasonic probe is displayed as an ultrasonic image, the operator must hold the ultrasonic probe against the region to be examined and operate the ultrasonic image display apparatus at the same time. Usually, the ultrasonic image display apparatus must be operated by one hand because the other hand is used for holding the ultrasonic probe. Therefore, ease of operation in operating the ultrasonic image apparatus is very important. For example, it is desirable that the operation for switching between the single display and multiple display described above can be easily done by one hand, and that a desired portion of the ultrasonic image can be displayed.
In the conventional ultrasonic image display apparatus described above, when part of an ultrasonic image is displayed in the multiple display and a certain location of the ultrasonic image not in that part is to be displayed, the multiple display must be switched to the single display. Therefore, when measurement of distance or area is to be made on locations including those not displayed in the multiple display, processing for switching from the multiple display to the single display is required, thus imposing limitation on the measurement in the multiple display. That is, the conventional ultrasonic image display apparatus requires the operator to conduct cumbersome operations, leading to problems that ease of operation is reduced and the time needed for the operations is increased.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic image display apparatus and ultrasonic image display method that improve monitor display condition operating ease and enable easy display of an arbitrary site.
To solve the aforementioned problems and attain the object, the present invention in accordance with a first aspect provides an ultrasonic image display apparatus for producing an ultrasonic image based on an echo signal received by an ultrasonic probe and displaying said ultrasonic image on a monitor, said apparatus characterized in comprising: display area forming means for forming on a screen of said monitor a display area in which at least part of said ultrasonic image is displayed; displayed range selecting means for selecting a displayed range to be displayed in said display area from said ultrasonic image; displayed range moving means for conducting movement of said displayed range of said ultrasonic image; and movement instruction inputting means for inputting a direction and an amount of the movement of said displayed range to said displayed range moving means.
According to the invention of the first aspect, the ultrasonic image display apparatus produces an ultrasonic image based on an echo signal received by an ultrasonic probe, forms a display area for displaying the ultrasonic image on a monitor screen, selects a displayed range to be displayed in the display area from the ultrasonic image, and allows scrolling of the displayed range of the ultrasonic image.
The present invention in accordance with a second aspect is, in the invention in accordance with the first aspect, characterized in that said ultrasonic image display apparatus further comprises position specifying means for specifying an arbitrary position on said monitor screen, and when the position specified by said position specifying means is moved from the inside to the outside of said display area, said displayed range moving means conducts movement of said displayed range according to the amount of said movement.
According to the invention of the second aspect, when an arbitrary position on the monitor screen specified by the position specifying means is moved from the inside to the outside of the display area, the ultrasonic image display apparatus scrolls the displayed range according to the amount of the movement.
The present invention in accordance with a third aspect is, in the invention in accordance with the second aspect, characterized in comprising a single user interface that operates as said movement instruction inputting means or said position specifying means by switching its operation.
According to the invention of the third aspect, the scrolling of the displayed range can be conducted in a plurality of methods by switchably using a single user interface.
The present invention in accordance with a fourth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the first-third aspects, characterized in that said display area forming means is capable of switching display between single display in which a single display area is formed on said monitor screen and multiple display in which a plurality of display areas are formed on said monitor screen.
According to the invention of the fourth aspect, the ultrasonic image display apparatus is capable of switching display between single display in which a single display area is displayed on the monitor screen and multiple display in which a plurality of display areas are displayed, and allows scrolling of the displayed range of an ultrasonic image in the single or multiple display.
The present invention in accordance with a fifth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the first-fourth aspects, characterized in that said ultrasonic image display apparatus further comprises image storing means for storing an ultrasonic image converted from said echo signal as still image data, and said displayed range selecting means selects an ultrasonic image to be displayed and its displayed range from among said ultrasonic image converted from said echo signal and ultrasonic images stored in said image storing means.
According to the invention of the fifth aspect, the ultrasonic image display apparatus can arbitrarily select an ultrasonic image to be displayed in a display area from among a scan image produced from an echo signal and ultrasonic images stored in the image storing means, and allows scrolling of the displayed range.
The present invention in accordance with a sixth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the first-fifth aspects, characterized in that when said display area forming means forms a plurality of display areas, said displayed range selecting means selects ultrasonic images to be displayed and their displayed ranges respectively for said plurality of display areas.
According to the sixth aspect, when a plurality of display areas are displayed on the monitor screen, the ultrasonic image display apparatus can arbitrarily select ultrasonic images to be displayed in respective display areas from among a scan image produced from an echo signal and ultrasonic images stored in the image storing means, and allows scrolling of the displayed ranges.
The present invention in accordance with a seventh aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the fourth-sixth aspects, characterized in that when said display area forming means switches display from the single display to the multiple display, said displayed range selecting means selects part of the ultrasonic image displayed in the single display as said displayed range, and displays said displayed range in at least one of said plurality of display areas.
According to the invention of the seventh aspect, when display is switched from the single display to the multiple display, the ultrasonic image display apparatus selects part of the ultrasonic image displayed in the single display as the displayed range, and displays it in at least one of the plurality of display areas.
The present invention in accordance with an eighth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the first-seventh aspects, characterized in further comprising displayed range rotating means for rotating said displayed range of said ultrasonic image.
According to the invention of the eighth aspect, the ultrasonic image display apparatus can rotate the displayed range of an ultrasonic image displayed in a display area to display the range at a desired angle.
The present invention in accordance with a ninth aspect provides an ultrasonic image display method for producing an ultrasonic image based on an echo signal received by an ultrasonic probe and displaying said ultrasonic image on a monitor, said method characterized in comprising: a display area forming step of forming on a screen of said monitor a display area in which at least part of said ultrasonic image is displayed; a displayed range selecting step of selecting a displayed range to be displayed in said display area from said ultrasonic image; a displayed range moving step of conducting movement of said displayed range of said ultrasonic image; and a movement instructing step of inputting a direction and an amount of the movement of said displayed range to said displayed range moving means.
According to the invention of the ninth aspect, the ultrasonic image display method produces an ultrasonic image based on an echo signal received by an ultrasonic probe, forms a display area for displaying the ultrasonic image on a monitor screen, selects a displayed range to be displayed in the display area from the ultrasonic image, and allows scrolling of the displayed range of the ultrasonic image.
The present invention in accordance with a tenth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with the ninth aspect, characterized in that said ultrasonic image display method further comprises a position specifying step of specifying an arbitrary position on said monitor screen, and when the position specified by said position specifying step is moved from the inside to the outside of said display area, said displayed range moving step conducts movement of said displayed range according to the amount of said movement.
According to the invention of the tenth aspect, when an arbitrary position on the monitor screen specified by the position specifying means is moved from the inside to the outside of the display area, the ultrasonic image display method scrolls the displayed range according to the amount of the movement.
The present invention in accordance with an eleventh aspect is, in the invention in accordance with the ninth or tenth aspect, characterized in that said movement instructing step and said position specifying step are executed by a single user interface.
According to the invention of the eleventh aspect, the scrolling of the displayed range can be conducted in a plurality of methods by switchably using a single user interface.
The present invention in accordance with a twelfth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with the ninth-eleventh aspect, characterized in that said display area forming step is capable of switching display between single display in which a single display area is formed on said monitor screen and multiple display in which a plurality of display areas are formed on said monitor screen.
According to the invention of the twelfth aspect, the ultrasonic image display method is capable of switching display between single display in which a single display area is displayed on the monitor screen and multiple display in which a plurality of display areas are displayed, and allows scrolling of the displayed range of an ultrasonic image in the single or multiple display.
The present invention in accordance with a thirteenth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the ninth-twelfth aspects, characterized in that said ultrasonic image display method further comprises an image storing step of storing an ultrasonic image produced based on said echo signal as still image data, and said displayed range selecting step selects an ultrasonic image to be displayed and its displayed range from among said ultrasonic image converted from said echo signal and ultrasonic images stored by said image storing step.
According to the invention of the thirteenth aspect, the ultrasonic image display method can arbitrarily select an ultrasonic image to be displayed in a display area from among a scan image produced from an echo signal and ultrasonic images stored in the image storing means, and allows scrolling of the displayed range.
The present invention in accordance with a fourteenth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the ninth-thirteenth aspects, characterized in that when said display area forming step forms a plurality of display areas, said displayed range selecting step selects ultrasonic images to be displayed and their displayed ranges respectively for said plurality of display areas.
According to the fourteenth aspect, when a plurality of display areas are displayed on the monitor screen, the ultrasonic image display method can arbitrarily select ultrasonic images to be displayed in respective display areas from among a scan image produced from an echo signal and ultrasonic images stored in the image storing means, and allows scrolling of the displayed ranges.
The present invention in accordance with a fifteenth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with the twelfth-fourteenth aspect, characterized in that when said display area forming step switches display from the single display to the multiple display, said displayed range selecting step selects part of the ultrasonic image displayed in the single display as said displayed range, and displays said displayed range in at least one of said plurality of display areas.
According to the invention of the fifteenth aspect, when display is switched from the single display to the multiple display, the ultrasonic image display method selects part of the ultrasonic image displayed in the single display as the displayed range, and displays it in at least one of the plurality of display areas.
The present invention in accordance with a sixteenth aspect is, in the invention in accordance with any one of the ninth-fifteenth aspects, characterized in further comprising a displayed range rotating step of rotating said displayed range of said ultrasonic image.
According to the invention of the sixteenth aspect, the ultrasonic image display method can rotate the displayed range of an ultrasonic image displayed in a display area to display the range at a desired angle.
Therefore, in the ultrasonic image display apparatus and ultrasonic image display method in accordance with the present invention for displaying an ultrasonic image produced based on an echo signal output by an ultrasonic probe in one or more display areas formed on the monitor screen, a displayed range of the ultrasonic image displayed in the display area can be scrolled in the display area; and therefore, an effect that there are provided an ultrasonic image display apparatus and ultrasonic image display method that improve monitor display condition operating ease and enable easy display of an arbitrary site is obtained.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.